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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28315410">Cherish The Present</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Listentothelittlebird/pseuds/Listentothelittlebird'>Listentothelittlebird</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Code Bat [21]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Batfamily (DCU), Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Fluff, Gen, Merry Christmas!, a Nintendo Switch makes an appearance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:13:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,636</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28315410</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Listentothelittlebird/pseuds/Listentothelittlebird</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Christmas. Everyone's home - nobody's severely injured, or missing, or dead. They were together, and that was what mattered.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jason Todd &amp; Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd &amp; Damian Wayne, Tim Drake &amp; Dick Grayson, Tim Drake &amp; Jason Todd</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Code Bat [21]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1964452</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>60</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>628</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Cherish The Present</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alfred opened the door for Jason, before he even had a chance to knock. Jason grinned lazily, and was rewarded with a tilt of Alfred’s lips. </p><p> </p><p>“Master Bruce just returned as well,” Alfred stated, eyes glinting with warmth, “The rest are already in the living room. I believe Master Dick has coaxed everyone into spending the night there.”</p><p> </p><p>Jason snorted in amusement. “Why am I not surprised?” he stated dryly. Alfred accompanied him into the room, peacefully silent despite the number of people present.</p><p> </p><p>Bruce had positioned himself at the end of an already-crowded couch. Dick had situated himself at the bottom of the cuddle pile, sprawled across most of the cushions, with his arm curled around Tim, probably the only thing preventing the kid from completely falling off. Damian was pressed against the back of the couch, curled between his two brothers and father. </p><p> </p><p>Cass had made herself at home on Bruce’s lap, her legs draped over the armrest. Duke was on the floor in front of the couch, head pressed to Tim’s back. Only Duke and Bruce were still awake enough to acknowledge Jason’s presence when he strolled in. The rest barely twitched, either too comfortable to move or too deep in sleep to be moved for anything less than an emergency.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re late,” Bruce murmured softly, resting a hand on Jason’s head as he took to the other side of Bruce’s legs. Jason hummed, propping his arm on the man’s legs, “The Outlaws base is quite a drive away from Gotham, old man. I would’ve taken the jet, but other people use it, too. Besides, that thing can be tracked.”</p><p> </p><p>Bruce huffed and ran his hand through his son’s hair. “Welcome home, Jaylad,” he whispered. Jason snorted quietly, “Yeah, yeah, Merry Christmas and whatever.”</p><p> </p><p>At Bruce’s blank look, Jason waved his phone in his face, “S’past midnight, already. Merry Chrysler.”</p><p> </p><p>“Shhhh,” came Tim’s response, his face mushed into Dick’s chest, “M’sleeping. Not Christmas.”</p><p> </p><p>“Whatever you say, Timbo.”</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p> </p><p>“Merry Christmas!” was yelled, right before Tim was shoved off the couch. </p><p> </p><p>Tim groaned dramatically into the blanket that was draped over him some time in the night. He was left alone for a few blissful moments before his blanket was unceremoniously yanked away from him. Finally, he blinked his eyes open, rolling over to glare up at his brother.</p><p> </p><p>“Shuddup,” Tim mumbled, pointedly covering his eyes with his arm. “Dick,” he added, pointedly. </p><p> </p><p>Dick sighed above him, too used to Tim’s slow morning starts to truly be surprised. “C’mon, Timmy,” he whined, “Get up! We’re opening presents, already!”</p><p> </p><p>That got Tim’s attention. He sighed heavily, before he pushed himself up to his feet. “What happened to breakfast?” Tim yawned, as a cup of hot chocolate was pressed into his hands. Dick huffed, “We tried to wake you up, I assure you, but you’re a log in your sleep.”</p><p> </p><p>“Only when I’m safe,” Tim mumbled out, and chose to ignore Dick’s fond smile by hiding his face in his mug. </p><p> </p><p>Their Christmas tree was located at the corner of their movie-screening room, mostly because they tended to sprawl on the floor of the living room to play board games and Wii, and also because the lighting of the Christmas lights was a nice backdrop for festive films. </p><p> </p><p>Tim and Dick walked into the room to Jason and Damian playing what looked to be a very vicious game of cat-and-mouse - Jason was trying to prevent Damian from getting to the Christmas tree, and Damian was making a valiant effort to slip past Jason’s bulkier frame. </p><p> </p><p>Dick cooed quietly, his grin bright and plastered to his face. Cass and Duke were watching the scene from the couches, while Steph was on her feet and filming, having arrived sometime that morning. Tim really needed to ask her for that recording.</p><p> </p><p>The scene ended when Damian darted too close to Jason and he managed to wrap his arms around Damian’s still-moving form, sending both of them to the ground. Jason was chuckling, deep and content laughs bubbling up from deep in his chest, and Damian was giggling, a young and happy sound, his hands clasping Jason’s arms but not actively fighting the hold.</p><p> </p><p>The moment lingered, until Damian wiggled out of Jason’s grip, his forced pout not completely hiding the smile at the corners of his lips. Jason grinned unrepentantly, springing to his feet and offering his brother a hand up. </p><p> </p><p>“Alright,” Jason drawled, tilting his head at Bruce, “We good ta’ open the presents, old man?”</p><p> </p><p>“We are,” Bruce confirmed with a soft smile, “Shall we do it in order of age?”</p><p> </p><p>There was a significant amount of time spent bantering back and forth, and they knew they were wasting time, but they hardly cared.</p><p> </p><p>They were all here, and safe. Nobody was gravely injured. Nobody was missing or presumed dead. If their family had learnt anything, it was to cherish the moments that they had, while they had them.</p><p> </p><p>They finally ended up deciding on a random order - meaning, take whatever present was thrown at you and start ripping it open. </p><p> </p><p>“Did anyone buy anything fragile?” Bruce had to shout, before Jason sent the first gift flying. Only after everyone gave their negatives did Bruce give a nod, and then brightly-coloured gifts were flying at different people. </p><p> </p><p>In the middle of the chaos, Tim disappeared for a short moment, before returning with a smug grin. Then, when all the wrapping paper was finally disposed of, Tim perched himself on the backrest of the couch with a sparkling, excited glint in his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Ladies and gents,” Tim yelled, to get everyone’s attention over the din of messing with their presents, “I have a final Christmas present which is not in this room. I’ll give you a few hints: it has already been set-up, it’s fun for all the family, and it allows eight players.”</p><p> </p><p>Dick gasped dramatically, happy to play along. “Could it be? A red-and-blue Nintendo console?” </p><p> </p><p>Jason was grinning, already moving towards the exit of the movie room. “Please tell me you’ve already unlocked all the characters,” he addressed Tim directly, already expecting his response.</p><p> </p><p>Tim grinned back, proud and satisfied.</p><p> </p><p>They managed to coerce Bruce into playing with them. Cass was usually adverse to most video games, but the nature of Super Smash Bros. controls meant that she could mash buttons at random and still have a chance of winning. Especially with seven other players jostling each other on the small stage. </p><p> </p><p>“Rainbow ball!” Dick yelled, “Mine!”</p><p> </p><p>“No, it’s mine!” Steph yelled back, “And it’s a smash ball, you uncultured swine!”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll call it what I want, now get back from-” both people yelped as the smash ball exploded in a large X.</p><p> </p><p>“Fake smash ball,” Tim commented mildly, as he himself chipped away at the real one. Jason kicked him away and stole the power-up at the last moment, cackling evilly.</p><p> </p><p>The day passed in the midst of yelling and overly-dramatic battlecries, and dinner came and went. It was time for patrol.</p><p> </p><p>“Robin, go with Nightwing, tonight,” Batman stated as everyone suited up, “Red Hood, with me.”</p><p> </p><p>Red Hood tilted his head at the man’s cowled head, but he gave no indications of what he was planning. Only when they had split up onto their different patrol routes, when they were hidden away on a secluded rooftop, did Batman speak.</p><p> </p><p>“I know it’s probably… inappropriate, to ask you this on patrol,” Batman spoke haltingly, “But I wanted to ask you privately, and let you make a decision for yourself.”</p><p> </p><p>Batman passed Red Hood a small tablet. Red Hood frowned and skimmed the contents of the screen. The moment he realised what it was, he froze, scrolling quickly through the carefully-crafted speech - it was a speech, an announcement, to be specific - before his head snapped up towards his father.</p><p> </p><p>“You always said that you enjoyed the anonymity that came from being legally dead,” Batman stated evenly, “But it’s been a few years, and… I think I wouldn’t mind having my son back, publicly.”</p><p> </p><p>Jason was silent for a few long moments. He tugged off his hood, staring at Bruce with a carefully neutral expression through his domino mask. </p><p> </p><p>Jason hesitated, weighing the pros and cons in his head.</p><p> </p><p>“I… we’d need to come up with a backstory,” Jason muttered quietly, “And I’d need to be more careful with my appearances in other countries. Make me look like an avid traveler, maybe?”</p><p> </p><p>“We can work on the whole description together,” Bruce agreed, “It’ll be like what we did for R, and for N. It’s possible. The question is, do you want it?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes,” Jason answered, then stumbled over his next words, “I-I mean, well, I wouldn’t really mind it-”</p><p> </p><p>“Then we’ll make it happen,” Bruce cut in. Jason clamped his mouth shut, releasing a small chuckle that eased the tension out of his shoulders. He frowned in thought.</p><p> </p><p>“The Outlaws,” he blurted, suddenly, “They’ve seen me in a domino, and hey, that’s worked for N all these years, but I do have this,” Jason fingered his white lock of hair, “Which is, well, hard to hide.”</p><p> </p><p>Jason had tried and failed to dye it, once. The dye had worked temporarily, but it wore off way too quickly, making it more of an inconvenience than anything.</p><p> </p><p>It was Bruce’s turn to fall silent.</p><p> </p><p>“To be perfectly honest,” Bruce rumbled, and there was a smile tugging at the side of his cowled face, “It’s getting tiring, hiding everyone’s equipment when League members are visiting the Batcave.”</p><p> </p><p>Jason snorted despite himself, before his brain caught up with Bruce’s hidden meanings. </p><p> </p><p>“Well, if even you think Code Bat’s a bit outdated,” Jason drawled with a grin, “I guess we should just help the revelation along, huh?”</p><p> </p><p>Bruce did smile, this time.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>There may be an interlude of one or two fics before we get to the <em>juicy</em> ones, but The Reveals! Are! Coming!</p><p>Hope everyone's had / is having a wonderful Christmas :)) </p><p>(Also, hypothetically, if I put up original work on a Wix website, would you guys view it? Or if I put it up on ao3?)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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